Fireflies
by NineSoul
Summary: When they are young and foolish, our boys fall for each other, but it can never be that easy. AU, ZoSan, 3-part love story. This will cover a significant period of time, but mainly a kiddie!fic.


**Hello all and welcome to my summer special! It's late (*cough*early*cough*) so I'll make this quick. This will have exactly three chapters, AU, chronicling the turbulent and misshapen romantic childhoods of Zoro and Sanji. This first chapter is old and has endured very little editing, so be patient. This one is Zoro's side of their initial meeting, when they're about 12 or 13, and the next one will be Sanjis take.**

 **But that doesn't matter right now! What matters is the childhood fluffiness and interactions that are always so fun between Marimo and Dart-brow! So much. So, so much. X3 Enjoy, darlings.**

Once upon a summer in a not so far off land, there was a forest of fireflies. The fireflies weren't uncommon for the season, not by any means, but that place was different. They floated among the trees like stars, lit on flowers like the brightest dew drops. Every child in the village near the forest wanted to go there at least once in their life, but most could never find the place.

Though it may have sounded easy to find, the place where the fireflies outnumber the dirt particles was elusive. The place was told to glow like the daytime in the middle of the blackest night, but still it could not be found. There were supposed to be crystal clear rivers intersecting in the middle of a clearing, and yet it was so difficult to find the spot where the fireflies danced. Oftentimes, people walked right past it.

Someone, a young boy with green hair and dark skin, no older than thirteen, blundered along through the forest. He did not care to find the place where the lightning bugs flourished. He was only looking for home. Perhaps he'd gotten lost. At least, that's what he was supposing. He could not remember taking a wrong turn anywhere, but it seemed like he was always doing that sort of thing. As long as he wasn't hungry, it didn't much matter to him, especially since it was summer. He never minded a summer stroll, intentional or otherwise.

That boy, all by his lonesome, barely paid attention to his surroundings. He did not care. The children in the village were always going on about a magical place in the forest, but it was none of his business. It didn't matter where bugs were, not to him. He was too old and much too ambitious to find it interesting. He'd just as soon never see another firefly than seek them out just to watch them light up. Children were ridiculous, he decided.

As he ignored the scenery, the sun dropped. Had that boy been one to marvel at nature he would have been breathless with amazement. As it was, he did not care to think about it. He had a place to be and a person to meet and that was much more important than staring at some trees.

He had been walking for a great number of minutes before anything started to change noticeably. Maybe that was only because he had not been paying attention, but as soon as he was, he noticed the air was clearer the grass was greener and those small alterations were enough to drag his attention away from his thoughts so he wouldn't miss the most important thing: Another boy.

This boy, this new boy, he was scrawny. He had the blondest hair that the first boy had ever seen, as well as the palest skin. The new boy appeared to be around the first boy's age, but, very much unlike the first boy, this new boy was completely enraptured with the scenery.

The blond boy had his head turned to the side, hiding his eyes with a shroud of hair, but the first boy could tell that he was smiling. The new boy was walking towards that boy, but the blond didn't seem to notice at all. He wasn't paying attention to the important things, in the first boy's opinion. The blond should watch where he was going, he decided.

"Oi," the first boy called and the new boy jumped. A blond head turned in his direction. The first boy found himself looking into the bluest eye he'd ever seen and his words shriveled on his tongue. "Uhh… What're you d-doing here?" he managed to ask after an embarrassing minute-long struggle.

The bright blue eye blinked and the first boy very slowly came to the thought that the matching eye, which was hidden behind blond hair, must have done the same. He wasn't sure, however, why that was an important thought. "What?" the blond boy questioned, almost like he hadn't heard what the first boy had asked. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be here?"

His voice, the green-haired boy noticed, took away from the flabbergasting effect of the blond boy's eyes with its annoying, sarcastic skepticism. "Well, yeah!" the first boy answered crossly. He'd once been told there was a reason for everything so, since he didn't want to forfeit any kind of authority he might have over the blond, he would employ that theory.

The blond boy looked slightly taken aback. "What is it, then?" he asked, not scornfully or accusationally, just as a neutral question, but the first boy didn't like it.

"None of your business!" the first boy snapped. He hated to act childish, but he couldn't help it. The blond boy's presence frustrated him. Especially when said blond boy gave a little laugh. Why wasn't his cross behavior intimidating the blond boy beyond all possible displays of joy?

"Is that right?" the blond boy asked, stepping very brazenly forward and taking a seat on a big flat stump directly in the first boy's way. "And who are you to tell me to leave and give no reason?"

The first boy gathered up his chest and everything within it and stuck it out as big as he could without looking silly. "Roronoa Zoro," he introduced proudly, crossing his arms, "that's who. And who the hell are you?"

A blue eye, the right one, Zoro noted, stared at him, unimpressed. "Sanji," the blond said and after a second Roronoa Zoro caught on that that was an introduction.

"Just Sanji?" he questioned, raising one eyebrow. He'd never met anyone with just one name before, but he figured that if the blond really only had one name, and that name was Sanji, then the combined weirdness suited the person himself just fine.

The blond boy nodded and grinned. "Yup. That's me."

Zoro squinted at him, trying to understand why the blond, Sanji, was so irritatingly chipper. He didn't get it. That kid, that Sanji, he didn't make sense. All he did was make Zoro even later than he already was. With that thought in mind, Zoro decided not to waste any more time and walked around the sunset-staring blond.

"Where ya goin'?" Sanji asked lightly, looking at something beyond Zoro. "You're gonna miss the best part."

"Do I look like I care?"

"Yes. You just don't know it yet."

Zoro stopped. That didn't make sense either. How could he be unaware of his own feelings towards sunsets? That wasn't possible. He didn't care about the sunset, he cared about his friends and about getting closer to his dream. Nothing that the sun did was relevant. "I don't care. I'm going home."

The blond turned to him, the sun reflected in his eye. "Okay," he said after a minute. "If you really want to leave, who am I to stop you?" And with that, Sanji turned back to the sunset, slouching a little on the stump he was using as a chair.

He didn't care, he really didn't, but Zoro got the distinct impression that he had been too rude and, since that was something he'd been trying to work on, he needed to fix it. He should just go home, he knew, since he would rather be there than anywhere else, but he was bolstered to the spot. At first, the reason was impossible to pin down. Then he wondered if "just Sanji" had anywhere to go at night. The connection wasn't obvious, nor was it completely logical, but that was what jumped to mind.

So, with a groan at his unwilling sympathy, Zoro moved closer to the blond on the tree stump. "Uhm... Why would you want me to be here anyway? You don't even know me," Zoro questioned, at which point he began really hoping they'd never met before.

The blond boy placed his elbows on his thighs and his chin in his palms. He looked at Zoro with a half-lidded eye. "Who said I want you here, grasshead? Go home," Sanji said, flicking a hand out in an uncommitted shooing gesture, only to plant his chin back in his hands and turn to face the sunset again.

Needless to say, Zoro found his behavior offensive. "Why the hell were you trying to convince me to stay, then, idiot!?" Zoro snapped. He really had no idea why he'd felt sorry for such a rude kid, but he took comfort in knowing he'd never be so stupid again.

Sanji half-scrunched his nose and sneered. "None of your damn business, Marimo," he spat, "but since you asked, I was looking for company that's not retarded and, obviously, I picked the wrong person."

Zoro felt his eyebrow twitch and his eyes widen. "What the- I'm not retarded you blond asshole!"

"Ooh, never heard that one before," Sanji grumbled sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Just go away. You would be terrible company, anyway." The blond boy crossed his arms, set his mouth in a thin line and turned away from Zoro like he'd just ended the argument. That was not how Zoro saw it.

"Yeah, right! I will accompany the shit out of you!" Zoro shouted resolutely about two seconds before he realized that Sanji was baiting him. Finally registering that the insults were supposed to make him stay—but not quite knowing how Sanji knew it would work—Zoro wanted to take back what he had said.

But, of course, before he could backtrack and explode about the tricking, Sanji turned to him with a curly brow raised. "Prove it," he said—dared, even—and there was no backing out now.

Zoro stomped over to Sanji and dropped himself down to sit on the grass a few feet away from Sanji's stump. He huffed and glared at the blond for a good handful of seconds, during which he was stared at blankly, and then, to be as dramatic as possible, he abruptly swung his head back to look at the sunset. "Oh my god," Zoro said, completely over-the-top loud and sarcastic, "this is the most beautiful sunset I have _ever_ seen! The sun! Look how it's setting! Amazing!" A few random sarcastic gestures later, he was officially a snarky asshole. However, he could not care less.

The blond boy snorted and Zoro saw out of the corner of his eyes that he was being watched. He felt stupid, but the amount of attitude he was exuding would somehow make up for it, he decided. As Sanji continued to watch him, hopefully incredulously and offended, Zoro's smugness level increased greatly. He was indeed one hell of an ass.

But the kid didn't say anything. He just sat there and divided his attention between Zoro and the sunset for a long time, almost until the final orange-gold rays disappeared. And then, just before it got too dark to see, Sanji stood abruptly, turned toward Zoro and nodded. "Thanks. You can go now," he said with a quick smile and walked off.

Zoro sat slack-jawed for a good few seconds before his brain fully caught on to what was happening, but when it did he jumped to his feet. "Hey, wait!" Zoro ran to catch up with Sanji and fell into pace beside him. "That was it? All you wanted was for me to sit with you for a few minutes?" he questioned.

The blond boy turned his head, eyebrows raised in an "are you dense?" expression. "Yeah," Sanji said with a little nod like it was completely obvious.

It made his thoughts falter. Why, he didn't know, but it was somewhat inconceivable to him that, for all that arguing, Sanji only wanted a few minutes of his time. That kid had been far too irritating for just that. "Really?" Zoro asked stupidly, not coming up with anything else to say.

Sanji jumped over a root with a flourish like some kind of acrobat and, without missing a beat, he replied, "Yes, really. Now go home. You're gonna be late for something, right?"

He had to think about it. It would be meal time at the dojo pretty soon and he'd promised to spar with Kuina afterwards, so he did have to go, but it wasn't really urgent. There was no set time on his promise, which Kuina always made him do, so he would never be late. (She said he was an idiot and couldn't navigate the back of his hand. He had enough pride to be offended, but not to deny it.) And, anyway, Kuina would always be there.

"Yeah," Zoro began, "but-"

"So go. The sun's setting. You got better things to do than mingle with the fireflies," Sanji said so very casually, almost like he knew. Like he didn't even care anymore after all the fuss to obtain Zoro's company. Like they'd be seeing each other again. But perhaps Zoro was gleaning too much from the odd exchange.

Zoro started to question it, started to ask "but what about you?" when he realized he was probably being tricked again. This time he wouldn't take pity, even if he was confused and wondered what the blond would be doing in the woods by himself. "Fine then." He tried his damndest not to sound disgruntled. "I'm going home."

"Okay. Bye." Sanji flashed him a grin, so brief he barely caught it. Then the blond wandered a few feet away, his back to Zoro, muttering something Zoro could just almost hear. He seemed to gesture to himself for a moment before turning back to face Zoro, hands clasped in front of him. "A souvenir," Sanji said, indicating his own hands, then nodding vaguely at Zoro's hands.

"Huh?" Zoro raised an eyebrow. Weren't they parting? Wasn't this where he went home and didn't think about the blond ever again? He didn't understand why he was still standing there. Maybe he was humoring the blond boy. That could be it.

Sanji laughed, a completely out-of-context, ridiculous sound. "Put out your hands, idiot," he said, stepping closer. "I have something for you."

He had been in this situation with Kuina before. She got him every time, though he knew she always offered empty hands or a playful smack, after which she would laugh heartily and wander off, Zoro shouting after her. So this? This "something" coming from a total stranger when a similar "something" from his closest friend was nothing? It couldn't be anything good. He always let Kuina do that because he knew she liked to mess with him, it brought her joy and he reveled in her joy. This kid? Not so much.

Slowly, the blond boy's bright smile slipped from his face. "You don't want it," he said, not even bothering to make it a question. He lowered his clasped hands slightly, glancing at them with a slight frown. "Nah," Sanji said after a moment, effectively confusing Zoro, "I won't accept that."

"Accept what? I just don't want your crappy souvenir," Zoro told him, partially trying to explain for Sanji, partially for himself.

"Well, you have to take it. Just trust me, okay?" Sanji carefully switched to a one-handed hold on whatever he had and extended his newly freed hand to Zoro. His visible eyebrow was raised, inviting, his lips quirking in a faint smile. He looked a little desperate, a little fragile, but Zoro didn't want to buy into all that.

He wasn't going to give in or even respond because he'd be stupid to trust some annoying kid he'd just met. But Sanji took his hand carefully and Zoro could have stopped him but he just let himself be guided. He watched the blond situate Zoro's hand between both of his gently, noted numerous little cuts and burns all over the pale hands.

"From now on," Sanji said seriously, cradling Zoro's hand between his and slowly, cautiously transferring what he was holding over to Zoro's palm, "treasure this." He stared into Zoro's eyes, forcing his hand into a loose fist and nodding intensely.

Despite his dignity, Zoro was immediately _beyond_ curious about what he'd been given. He knew now that it wasn't nothing because he could feel it tickling his palm, but that didn't tell him what it was. Almost before Sanji had taken his hand back from where he had curled Zoro's fingers over, Zoro was opening his hand again to see what was in it. And he drew a total blank.

In front of him but already moving away, Sanji laughed long and loud. "What, never seen a bug before?" he called, cackling endlessly as he turned and walked off. "Don't think about it too hard, Marimo-head, or you'll hurt yourself."

He had given Zoro a firefly.

"What the hell?" Zoro questioned the air where Sanji had been. The blond was already out of his sight, but Zoro could still hear him laughing.

"See ya around!" Sanji's laughing voice bounced off the trees and echoed all around him and the next second he was alone.

Holding a lightning bug.

Zoro didn't know how long he stood there before he came back to himself. He looked around at the dusky forest and then down at the firefly climbing slowly up his arm. In a huff, Zoro grabbed the bug off of him and started marching home. "Stupid," he grumbled after the blond boy and told himself that was that.

It took him a long time to successfully navigate the woods (he thought it was something like two hours, but he didn't know) but when he finally got home it was full-dark out and Kuina was standing on the porch waiting for him.

Zoro stopped just short of the steps. "Hey."

Kuina glared at him. "You're late."

He should have expected that. "I know," he said, nodding slightly. She didn't let up, so he added, "I didn't meant to be. I just got-"

"Lost?" she cut in, stepping down to be eye-level with him. Zoro started to argue, but Kuina just rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about it, we both know you did. Where'd you end up that it took so long? The next island over?"

Zoro tried to look affronted, but that had almost happened once, so he mostly just tried not to give that away. "The woods," he answered shortly, defensively, if he thought about it, but he didn't. Deflecting was better, anyway. "Did you save any dinner for me?"

The girl hummed in acknowledgement or annoyance or something that was too keen for Zoro's liking. Kuina crossed her arms over her chest—which Zoro could never even notice anymore without hearing her in his head talking about how her chest was "growing"—and gave him a look. "What's in your hand?" she asked, indicating his right hand with a nod.

He glanced down without thinking about it and the memory of two pale hands encasing his own surged to mind. Zoro frowned against it. "Nothing," he told her.

Kuina made a face that was definitely bad news for him. She stepped into his personal space which, normally, he didn't mind, but it unnerved him. It was like she got close enough to see into his soul. "If it's nothing, open your hand," she told him, staring straight into his eyes.

"I don't—just trust me." Zoro tried to put his hand behind his back. He knew it was stupid, but he didn't want to show her. Maybe _because_ it was stupid. He knew it was nothing, it wasn't important, so he didn't know why she was making a big deal of it. Or maybe _he_ was making a big deal. But, so what his hand was closed? It didn't matter. However, she didn't seem to get that.

"I do trust you," Kuina said, taking hold of his forearms and not pulling, not physically, but he moved his arms for her anyway. "But we don't keep secrets, Zoro."

He never did end up telling her no, not with anything. He would put up a fight and he'd argue but basically if Kuina wanted it, Kuina got it. So he kept his hand closed for a few moments more, pulled against her hold very loosely and grinned at her a little, just to annoy her before he gave in.

"It really is nothing, by the way," Zoro informed her in a murmur as Kuina pried his hand open and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, yeah, don't hurt yourself, alright?" She scraped his palm with her blunt fingernails and turned away, laughing quietly in triumph. Zoro rolled his eyes at her because she was ridiculous, but he still felt a little off. It didn't get any better when Kuina made a disappointed noise. "Geez, you could've just told me," she groaned, turning back to look at Zoro, thoroughly unimpressed. "You got lost catching bugs?"

He wanted to pretend, mostly to himself, that he didn't know what she was talking about. In fact, it worked for a fat half-second, and then he knew he hadn't released his "souvenir" and he hadn't wanted to, either, and he wanted it back also. And then he thought about a lonely blond boy with nowhere to go who seemed like he just wanted a friend and crap. He was a horrible person, wasn't he?

Kuina was staring at him when he surfaced from his thoughts. "Whoa," she began with a gently dismissive laugh, "if it was that important, you should've just said." Without another word on the subject, she returned the firefly safely to his hand and turned back to the house, muttering about eating his portion if he didn't hurry up.

He didn't know what she had seen on his face—really, he hadn't been aware he was making a face— but it made Kuina weird for the rest of the night. She brought him a jar for his lightning bug, complete with air holes, but she never said anything and she smiled at him strangely. In his mind, there were too many lines to be drawn between Kuina and the blond from the woods, regarding their vague behavior and weird moods. It made him very uncomfortable.

Four days later, he got lost in the forest again. He would not normally concede that he was lost, but, in this case, it was better than the alternative—being, he meant to be there. Which he didn't. So he was definitely lost.

It was just after practice, the sun was still high in the sky and he'd gone for a walk by himself to pass the time until Kuina was available. He did that a lot and usually he never left the dojo's garden, but he wandered out on purpose that day. He had just wanted to walk around the island but before long he found himself in that same forest, hunting the tree stump where the blond boy had sat watching the sunset.

He didn't know what he was thinking. It was full light out, on a random day, in a random spot in some forest in the unacceptable heat of early summer, and what was he doing? Searching for some random annoying blond. He could already hear Kuina laughing at him.

The afternoon set in quickly and everything looked the same to Zoro, just more orange. He hadn't seen any tree stump at all, let alone the right one. Maybe he was being stupid, but he decided that if he could just find that damn stump he could call it a day and go home. That's all. He wasn't getting his hopes up, not even enough to call them hopes.

Zoro was sure he'd covered the whole forest twice. His feet were killing him and he was tired and it was getting dark and he hadn't seen another human being in hours. The wood was lonely and a little creepy and Zoro had all but given up his stupid non-hope. It was getting really hard to keep searching for someone that he didn't know for sure would even—

Suddenly, Zoro's foot caught on something and he toppled into the least graceful somersault recovery known to man and rolled messily onto his knees in the softest grass he'd ever felt in his life. It took him a moment to fully register what had happened and when he did he looked over his shoulder to see what he'd tripped over. Which, as it turned out, was not a "what"; it was a "who."

"What the-?" Zoro began, gawking as a wide blue eye crinkled at the corner and the boy he'd been searching conflictedly for burst into laughter.

"What an entrance!" Sanji remarked in a high-pitched voice between fits of giggles. He had been lying flat on his back in the grass, but apparently Zoro's dynamic entrance was so amusing that he had to roll onto his side, clutching his middle as if something was going to fall out. Zoro hoped he would pull a muscle.

Distinctly not pouting, Zoro dropped down to sit flat on the ground a couple feet away from the blond. "Shut up, it wasn't that funny," he grumbled, but he himself was beginning to chuckle. "It's your fault, anyway, for lying in the grass like a log or something."

Sanji laughed again and that time Zoro laughed with him. Before long, they were resting in a comfortable silence and Zoro couldn't think why he'd been so grumpy. It was strange how familiar it felt just to sit there, how easy it was. He didn't want to talk, and he didn't feel like he had to, either. There was nothing more to do than lay back and enjoy the soft grass and gentle breeze; all his concerns about daily life were forgotten in the lull. After a certain period of time, Zoro was only aware of the boy lying next to him and the warmth of the sun.

"Not to be rude," Sanji said suddenly, in an exhale, "but what brings you back to ye olde forest? Thought you had better things to do, Vegehairian."

Zoro felt like he'd just been startled awake. His brain was slow to process what had been said, but when it did he didn't know what to address first. "I've actually never heard that before," he noted first, vaguely impressed. He started to say that he'd come looking for Sanji, but that wouldn't do. His pride couldn't handle it. So he didn't say anything. He just waited for the moment to pass.

Sanji, apparently, wasn't going to let that happen. "I mean," the blond began casually, shrugging in the corner of Zoro's vision, "I could understand if you came for the fresh air and the butterflies and the _sunset_ , but obviously you don't go for that stuff. Maybe you're lost. That was it last time, right?"

His automatic denial got stuck in his throat. He didn't know why he was so shocked, or why he wasn't annoyed at the accusation like he would normally be. One thing Zoro did know was that he wanted to see where the blond was going with this line of questioning.

After a minute or so, Sanji hummed. "I see. So that was it, huh?" he said casually, but Zoro felt like something was up. He himself wasn't so sure how he knew it, but as another silence dragged on, he became increasingly aware that something was wrong. "You must live in town, I guess. To get lost here so often."

"I'm not lost, dammit." He tried not to sound annoyed, but there was no reason to censor himself. "And don't _you_ live in town?" He realized quickly how little he knew about the blond boy and, well, he didn't exactly want to befriend him—that kid was kind of an asshole—but it was a bit irksome. So, he supposed slowly to himself, he was a little curious. Just so they would be on level ground with each other. Yeah.

"None of your concern," Sanji said shortly, and Zoro found himself at once more curious and flat-out angry.

"Screw you," Zoro spat, rolling on his side to face away from Sanji. He glared at a nearby tree like it had personally wronged him and he didn't know why he was acting like that.

There was a small rustling noise and—briefly, irrationally—Zoro worried that Sanji had left. "You don't have to talk to me, you know," Sanji muttered. Zoro was oddly relieved that he was still there. "It feels like pity, even when you're being rude. You don't care, right? You were just lost. You don't know me and you don't want to. If you don't like what I have to say, you can just leave. No one is stopping you."

Zoro frowned and bit his lip. There was so much to process and, to the discredit of his pride in general, none of it was about leaving. He just wanted to know something—anything—about the mysterious blond boy that would explain this bipolar behavior. It may have been actual mental issues, maybe just a ruse. He had no way of knowing. But the feeling he got from Sanji was of real intrigue and real troubles and that was the first impression Zoro got from Sanji's behavior; his gut feeling. _Shit,_ Zoro grumbled internally. He had to go with his gut.

"Listen," Zoro huffed, struggling with his pride for the use of his words. "I'm not staying here 'cause I have to, obviously, you idiot. And I don't pity you, damn curly-eyebrowed drama queen, you've got that covered all on your own," Zoro grouched, realizing just a little too late how rude he sounded. Despite his efforts, he really did care, just a little bit, what the blond stranger thought of him. "We don't need to be friends to be in the same place at the same time, either! Hell, we could be enemies! It doesn't matter! I'm _not_ leaving, so there!"

Sanji sat up quickly, propping himself up on one elbow. "Enemies?" he questioned, unimpressed to the nth degree.

Zoro fought the warmth in his cheeks, but he didn't feel like it worked. "Yeah," he said, glaring up at Sanji over his shoulder. "So?"

"Why enemies? You could easily have said 'acquaintances' or 'neighbors' or 'rivals' or, like, 'pals,' or some shit. Why on earth would you say 'enemies?' I've never done a thing to you!" Sanji complained, scowling and smacking Zoro's shoulder with the back of his hand.

The green-haired boy groaned, rolling over once so he was further away, bu still facing Sanji. "Fine, geez, just make up your mind, ya damn—"

"Rivals," the blond interrupted, leveling a deathly serious stare at Zoro.

He hesitated. He already had a rival in Kuina; Sanji was not the same. But the look in his eyes was intense and full of fire and Zoro wanted to know why. So, he would humor him after all. "Rivals," he grumbled in agreement.

There was a second where the wind stopped and the bugs quieted and the last visible sliver of burning orange sun dipped below the horizon and it was just Sanji and his sparkling blue eye staring at Zoro with a blank face. And then the blond boy cracked a smile—or rather, an enormous smile cracked him—and everything was too loud and too bright all of the sudden.

"Cool. I've never had a rival before." Sanji grinned at him a moment longer before laying back down, fingers laced together over his stomach. He stared off into the distance, quiet, grinning, the model of serenity.

Zoro was in awe. He was simultaneously annoyed and excited that he had kind of, sort of, in a very messed up way, made a friend. _Or_ , _no_ , he amended to himself. _A_ _rival_.

They lay there in the grass until the light faded out almost entirely, without really speaking. When the light became almost too scarce to see, Sanji stood up, grinned at Zoro again, and started to wander off. Zoro sat up and watched, but did not say anything as Sanji meandered away and then back over, hands newly clasped, smile unwavering. The blond placed his cupped hands on top of Zoro's head for a few moments, and Zoro just sat there and let him do what he would. Sanji chuckled and bounced off, with only the slightest wave to indicate his departure. After the blond's silhouette had disappeared in the distance, Zoro put his hand gently over the spot Sanji had touched on his head. The tiny fluttering under his palm could have been a number of things, but he knew what it was; a firefly.

And so concluded the second meeting of many in the best and worst summer of their young lives.

 **The next chapter should be up in a month or so. Since I've started reading the OP manga again, it has been marginally easier to write :) Which reminds me, if you, the fabulous, generous, reviewful (mebe? xD) reader have read any of my other works, it'll all get finished! I just wanted to do this and one other first because that is how my priorities work. It really is so fun to write them, and this fic had to exist, I feel. Agree or nah? xD Loves you all!**


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